Control arrangement for film handling apparatus



May 7, 1940.

CONTROL ARRANGEMENT FOR FILM HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 26, 1939Illa-"Tm gm 01m Mzze/ INVENTOR Q o. WITTEL 2.19 9377 Patented May 7,1940 PATENT OFFICE CONTROL ARRANGEIVIENT FOR-FEM HANDLING APPARATUS Otto'Wittel, Rochester, N. Y., assignor to East man Kodak Company,Rochester, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application January 26,1939, Serial No. 252,953

The present invention relates to a control arrangement for a filmhandling apparatus and more particularly to a control member forengaging a toothed member of a film-operating means and for resilientlyopposing and stopping such toothed member.

The prior art discloses control members for film handling apparatuswhich stop the film-operating means of the apparatus with a resilient orshock-absorbing action. However, such control members utilize suchresilient action exclusively to overcome the momentum of the operatingmeans and if such resilient action is reduced, such as by fatigue of aspring member, the fihn- 15. operating means is not immediately stoppedand may even continue to operate against the resilient action of thecontrol member. This objectionable condition is encountered particularlyduring high speed operation of a film handling apparatus, such as isused for taking slow motion pictures.

The primary object of the present invention is the provision in a filmhandling apparatus of a control arrangement wherein an engaging portion.of the control member resiliently opposes movement of the film operatingmeans and wherein an abutting portion of the control member is movedagainst a stationary abutment to limit the movement of the controlmember or to provide a subsequent positive stop for the film-operatingmeans.-

A further object of the invention is the provision of a control member,the inherent resiliency of which opposes movement of the film-operatingmeans and which is mounted at one end only so as to provide a cantileverresilient arm which is flexed by the toothed member of the operatingmeans.

Another object of theinvention is the provision of a control memberhaving an engagingv portion'and an abutting portion, which portions ex-'tend in opposite directions, the engaging portion being moved intoengagement with the toothed member of a film-operating means and theabutting portion being normally spaced from a stationary abutment in theapparatus but being 55 nc udes.tamabutment.1a film-operating meansincluding a movable toothed member, a control member having an engagingportion for engaging said toothed member to stop said operating means,saidcontrol member being arranged resiliently to. oppose movement bysaid toothed 5 member, and said control member having an abuttingportion normally spaced from said abutment but moved thereagainst tolimit the movement of said control member upon engagement of saidengaging portion with said toothed mem- 10 her. The control member maybe mounted from one end only so that the resilient resistance exerted bythe control member against the moving toothed member of theoperating-means will be the inherent resiliency of the cantilever con-15 trol arm. Furthermore, the abutment and toothed member of theoperating means are preferably mounted in spaced relation and theengaging and abutting portions of the control member extend intoopposite directions therefrom. 20

Reference is now made to the accompanying drawing wherein similarreference characters designate similar elements and wherein: t

Fig. l is a fragmentary side elevation of a film handling apparatusequipped with the control 25 arrangement of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a transverse cross section of the control arrangement taken onthe line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary rear elevation of the control arrangement asviewed from the right of 30 Fig. 1. 1

Fig. 4 is a perspective of the control member according to theinvention. 7

The control arrangement of the invention is illustrated in connectionwith amotion picture camera mechanism but it is to be understood thatthe inventionmay also be equally Well applied to all types offilm-handling apparatus. In the illustrated embodiment, the filmhandling-apparatus comprises a camera casing ll] having'a front wall II,a side wall l2 and a bottom-wall l3. The front wall H and bottom wall l3may have a rim 14 extending along the outer edges thereof and forlight-tight co-operationwith a cover, not shown; The casing It alsoencloses 45 a shutter housing l5 which has a curved rear wall againstwhich the film maybe pressed by a pressure pad I6. A film edge-guidingmemher I! is mounted upon shutter housing I5 by a screw I8. I r

The film-operating means may be of conventional design and includes atoothed member. Specifically, the film-operating means includes a piniongear-l9 mounted upon a shaft 20 by a screw 2| and located within acircular recess 22 in the side wall I2 of easing I 0. A shaft 23 isjournaled in a bearing sleeve 24 which is fastened to side wall I2 by anintegral flange 25 and a plurality of screws 26. A small pinion gear 27is fastened by a pin 28 to the inner end of shaft 23, rotates within astepped circular recess 29 in side wall I2, and meshes with said piniongear I9. A disk 30 is fastened to the other end of shaft 213 and carriesan eccentric pin 3| upon which one end of the pulldown claw 32 is jour-46 will flex or spring arm 43 of the control memnaled by means of abushing 33 and a. screw 34. The other end of pulldow'n claw 32 has atooth 35 extending through a slot in pressure -pad l6 for engagementwith the film at the film gate. Said claw 32 is resiliently pressedtowarii' pressure pad I6 such as by a spring, not shown, bearing upon astud 36 provided centrally on claw 32.

A toothed member is included in and is connected for movement with theaforementioned film-operating means. may comprise a disk 31 which isintegral with or attached to said pinion gear l9, which is mounted forrotation with gear I9 upon shaft 20, and which has a pair of teeth 38.The film-operating means may be driven in any conventional manner suchas by a spring motor, not shown, which may be connected to gear I9 orgear 21.

A release member is externally and movably mounted on the casing I0.Such a release member comprises a lever 39 mounted at one end ona stud4U journaled in casing front wall II and carrying upon its other end afinger-piece 4|. The front wall II of casing I is recessed as at 42 topermit movement of lever 39 from a running position to a stop position.

A control member is connected for movement with said release member. Thecontrol member, according to the invention, comprises an arm 43connected at one end to stud 40 by a screw '44 and includes aperpendicular flange 45 on which are carried oppositely extendingtongues, an engaging tongue 46 and an abutting tongue 41.

A resilient member acts upon the aforementioned control member to urgeit into engaging or stop position and also resiliently to hold saidcontrol member in its running position. Such a resilient member is,according to the invention, mounted upon the bearing sleeve which alsoserves as the abutinent for tongue 41. Preferably this resilient membercomprises a coil spring 48 encircling bearing sleeve 24, havingone end49 extending into'engagement with the control member or flange 45thereof, and having another end 50 provided with a bend and thenfastened under one of screws 26. It will'be clear that the end 49 ofspring 48 normally urges the control member and its engaging tongue 46into engagement with the teeth 38 of disk 3! and also that when thecontrol member is moved to its extreme running position the edge offlange 45 will snap over the bend 5| in the other endfill of coil spring48 resiliently to hold the control member in such running position.

The operation of the control arrangement, according to the invention,will now be described. Prior to operation the control arrangement is inthe position shown by the full lines in Fig. 1. Upon downward movementof finger-piece 4 I, the control member and its engaging tongue 46 willbe moved out of engagement with'the tooth 38 of disk 31 and thefilm-operating mechanism will then run in a well known manner. If anyappreciable'run is'desired, the-finger piece 4| "may be moved to itsextreme'position so that the edge Such a toothed member of flange 45will engage bend 5| in spring end 50 in the manner just described.

When it is desired to stop the film-operating mechanism, thefinger-piece 4| will be moved upwardly to disengage flange 45 from bend5| or will be released to permit spring end 49 to raise the controlmember whereupon theengaging tongue 46 is moved into the path of theteeth 38 of the toothed member. The impact of such engagement between atooth 38 and engaging tongue ber and will tend to stop the rotation ofthe toothed member and the operation of the filmmoving means. Thecantilever mounting of arm 43 contributes to such fiexureof the armtransyers'ely of its plane'of movement for controlling the engagement oftongue 46 with the toothed member. In order to insure that the controlmember will not flex too much, an abutment is provided so as to limitthe flexure of the control..

such abutment may be provided in various ways within or on casing I0 butspecifically according to the invention may-also be provided by thebearing sleeve 24 for the lower shaft 23. a result, flexure of-arm '43by the toothed member is limited to the normal spacing of abuttingtongue '47 from said bearing sleeve 24. In other words, when tongue andarm 43 h'ave'moved to :the position shownin dot-dash lines in Fig, l,the abutting tongue'4'i will bear against sleeve 24 and prevent furtherfiexure of the control member. Thus the arm 43 is prevented from beingflexed beyond its elastic limit or to such an ex tent that theengagingtongue 46 will slip off of the engaged tooth '38. In this manner thetoothed member and the film-operating means will first be stopped by'ashock absorbing caction toprevent anysevere shocks to thefilm-operatingmechanism and its related parts and the tooth member is then positivelystopped when the abutting tongue 41 is moved against the bearing sleeve24 or any other stationary abutment within the casing Ill. 1

- The ultimate position of the control member during its stop positionwill depend upon the rela tive resilient resistance of-or exerted bysaid control member. Said resilient resistance-of the control member maybe sufficient to reverse disk 31 and to return the control membertothefull line position shown in Fig. l, orat least partially to so returnthe control member. In 'either event some back-lash is placed in thefilm-operating means to reduce the starting load upon the drivingv motorfor the next operation. Even i f the control member is of such lowresiliencyas to be held in flexed position by a tooth 38, thatresiliency will be sufiicient to return the-control member to normalposition when the engaging The scope of the invention is defin'edinthe'cla'ims which follow.

Having now particularly described my'invention what I desire to secure"by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates an'd'whatTclaim'is:

1. In a film handlingapparatus, the 'conibination with a casing havingastatioriaify abutment, and an operatingfmeans including a move abletoothed member, -of #a control membr on said casing 1 having an ngelgingpassion te:-

upon the nextengagement' of tooth 38 and tongue engaging'said'toothedmember to stop said operatingmeans, the force of the impact of suchengagement being partially absorbed by a resilient resistance exerted bysaid control member, and an abutting portion on said controlmember"inormally spaced from said stationary abutment and movedthereagainst to limit the movement of said control member uponengagement of said engaging portion with the moving toothed member.

2. In a film handling apparatus, the combination with a casing having astationary abutment, and an operating means including a movable toothedmember, of 'a control member on said casing and having an engagingportion for engaging said'toothed member'to stop said operating means,the force of the impact of such engagement being partially absorbed bythe inherent resiliency of said control member which is flexed, and anabutting portion on said control member normally spaced from saidstationary abutment and moved thereagainst to limit the flexure of saidcontrol member upon engagement of said engaging portion with the movingtoothed member.

3. In a film handling apparatus, the combination with a casing having'anabutment, an operating means including a movable toothed member, and arelease member movable from a running position to a stop position, of acontrol member movable with said release member, having an engagingportion for engaging said toothed member and being moved thereby whensaid release member is moved to stop position, and having an abuttingportion normally spaced from said abutment and moved thereagainst tolimit the movement of said control member by engagement of said engagingportion with said toothed member, and a spring member mounted on saidabutment, having one part normally moving said control member so thatthe engaging portion thereon engages said toothed member, and havinganother part with a bend therein for engaging and holding said controlmember so that said engaging portion thereon is out of engagement withsaid toothed member.

v4. In a film handling apparatus, the combination with a casing havingan abutment, an operating means including a movable toothed member, andarelease member movable from a running position to a stop position, of acontrol member comprising an arm connected to said release member andsupported at one end only, and a pair of tongues on the unsupported endof said arm, one of said tongues engaging said toothed member when saidrelease member is in stop position, and the other of said tongues beingnormally spaced from said abutment but moved thereagainst to limit thefiexure of said arm when the first-mentioned tongue moves intoengagement with and stops the moving toothed member. 7 t

5. In a film handling apparatus, the combination with a casing having anabutment, an operating means including a movable toothed member, and arelease member movable from a running position to a stopposition, of acontrol member comprising an. arm supported at one end only, movable bysaid release member ina plane, and flexible only transversely of itsplane of movement, and a pair of tongues on the unsupported end of saidarm, one of said tongues engaging said toothed member when said releaseis in stop position, and the other of said tongues being normally spacedfrom said abutment but movedv thereagainst in a plane transverse to saidplaneof j movement when the first-mentioned tongue moves into engagementwith the moving'toothedmember and is moved transversely of the planeofmovement of said arm. I a 1 In a-film handling. apparatus, thevcombinationwith=a casing including abearing sleeve, and a film operatingmeans including a shaft journaled in said sleeve and including a toothedmember adjacent to said sleeve, of a control member comprising an armsupported at one end only, an engaging tongue and an abutting tongue onthe unsupported end' of said arm, said abutting tongues being normallyspaced from said sleeve but moved thereagainst to limit the fiexure ofthe arm of said control member upon engagement of said engaging tonguewith said toothed member.

7. In a film handling apparatus, the combination with a casing includinga bearing sleeve, and a film operating means including a shaft journaledin said sleeve and including a toothed member in spaced relation to saidsleeve, of a control member comprising an arm supported at one end only,and a pair of oppositely extending tongues on the unsupported end ofsaid arm, one of said tongues being normally spaced from said sleeve butmoved thereagainst to limit the flexure of said arm upon engagement ofthe first-mentioned tongue with said moving toothed member.

8. In a film handling apparatus, the combination with a casing includinga bearing sleeve, and a film operating means including a shaft journaledin said sleeve and including a toothed member in spaced relation to saidsleeve, of a,

control member comprising an arm supported at one end only, aperpendicular flange on the unsupported end of said arm, and a pair ofoppositely extending tongues on said flange, one of said tongues beingnormally spaced from said sleeve but being moved thereagainst to limitthe fiexure of said arm upon engagement of the first-mentioned tonguewith said moving toothed member. a

9. In a film handling apparatus, the combinationwith a casing includinga bearing sleeve, and a film operating means including a shaft journaledin said sleeve and including a toothed member adjacent to said sleeve,of a control -member comprising an arm supported at one end only,anengaging tongue and an abutting tongue on the unsupported end of saidarm, said abutting tongue being normally spaced from said sleeve butmoved thereagainst to limit the flexure of the arm of said controlmember upon engagement of said engaging tongue with said toothed member,and a coil spring encircling said bearing sleeve, having one endengaging said control member normally to urge said engaging tongue intoengagement with said toothed memher, and having a bend in the other endthereof for engaging an edge of said arm to hold said control memberwith said engaging tongue out of engagement with said toothed member.

10. In a film handling apparatus, the combination with a casingincluding a bearing sleeve, a film operating means including a shaftjournaled in said sleeve and including a toothed member mounted inspaced relation to said sleeve, and a release member externally andmovably mounted on said casing, of a cantilever control member connectedat one end to said release member and including at its other end a pairof oppositely extending tongues, one of arranged to be normally spacedfrom said sleeve but moved thereagainst to limit fiexure of saidcantilever member, and a resilient member mounted 'onlsaidsle'eve,having oneend engaging said control member to-urge it into said stopposition and having a bent portion at its other end for engaging andmaintaining said control.

member in'running position.

